Water

My time back here in India has been an interestingly humbling experience. While I am more confident, I am definitely less arrogant. It's a lot like growing up, with a number of illusions being supplanted with reality.

As the summer heat surges past 105 degrees (this is just the beginning), it's natural for water to be uppermost in my mind. But you never really think that water will ever be a problem. Till the taps started to run dry in the afternoon here at Drishtee. I put it off as a plumbing issue. Then the next day I see this elaborate contraption digging right in front of the office building.



Apparently Noida (where my office is located) has acute water issues, and everyone has private bore wells on their property to supplement the municipal water supply. I can imagine houses having to do this, but corporate office buildings!? And it is illegal to have a bore well. And here we are digging in broad daylight. As if this was not alarming enough - the building already has a bore well, but the water levels have dropped so they are digging another 40 feet to access to ground water supplies. Ultimate example of citizens doing what they must - a libertarians paradise. Gives some perspective to why India is so chaotic.

I did a few google searches on water scarcity in India, here is what I found.
* Most fresh water supplies come from inter state rivers, setting up the stage for big water disputes down the line.
* Ground water has been over exploited since 1997-98
* There are promising rain water harvesting solutions
* Things you can do

If you have any suggestions on water conservation I'd love to hear about them.